Chapter 11 Domestic Violence Know the history and emergence of battered child syndrome o In 1962 C Henry Kempe and his colleagues published an article The Battered Child Syndrome after viewing x rays of broken bones in children and reports of maltreatment o Brought the medical model of domestic violence to the public s attention o They said that child abuse was centered on a syndrome of repeated violence and inadequate parenting o This perspective created sympathetic concern for not only the victims but also for the abusers who seemed to be fighting a mental illness that needed treatment Know the history and emergence of domestic abuse and wife beating o Patriarchal roots o Men s desire to control the behavior of women husband compels his wife to get her to behave as he wishes and social custom o Traditionally social structure has supported men s control over women through law o Issue of domestic violence was seen as the conflict between preserving the family unit and protecting women and children Which societal conditions helped victims and the recognition of DV o There was little attention paid to wife beating until the mid 1970s when feminist groups succeeded in making violence against women into a political problem o Feminist Movement the fundamental goal was to remove the social supports for male violence such as a reluctance to prosecute alleged offenders o Individualism o Social Support Mandatory Preferred Arrest Relationship between Feminist movement and recognition of wife beating DV issues o Feminist influence was at a high point in the 1970s o Goal was NOT to treat the injuries of the victims or ease the personal problems of the perpetrators o Fundamental goal was to remove the social supports for male violence such as a reluctance to prosecute alleged offenders o Activists worked for Changes in the law Funds for crisis centers and shelters for battered women Rejection of social norms that tolerated violence directed at women o By the end of the 1970s nearly every state had enacted laws to protect women from violence through a mixture Support services Requirements that physicians report suspected cases Tougher criminal procedures Why is there a conflict in the goals for domestic violence laws o Mandatory Preferred Arrest before women had to choose to arrest and they might fear their abuser would come after them again so they often didn t report it now they don t choose it is automatically reported and the abuser is arrested o OJ Simpson trial huge media storm surrounding the trial the public awareness led to the change in the law o 1970 s increased awareness 1980 s a lot of information on the news o Takes about 7 times for an individual to leave an abusive relationship o Stigma surrounding turning someone in dangerous time after leaving abuser may be stalking them new laws changed this o Conflict between preserving the family unit and protecting women and children o Challenging to translate protect the victim policy into effective programs o The rule of thumb a husband was allowed to hit his wife with a stick no thicker than What was the rule of thumb his thumb Definition of domestic violence o Domestic Violence violent acts between family members or between women and men in intimate or dating relationships o Situational Couple Violence violence that arises from a specific situation in which one or both partners act aggressively in anger o Intimate Terrorism a pattern in which a man seeks to control the behavior of his partner through repeated serious violent acts Know the medical and political models of domestic abuse what type of solutions do they suggest o The political model implies that domestic violence is deeply rooted in laws and customs that reinforce male dominance and is unlikely to be ended without political action by women s groups and their allies o Political model deals with the power relationships between men and women o Political how do we fix society o The medical model is when domestic violence is seen as an illness and a source of injuries main concern is illness and well being o Medical model suggests this problem can be solved through the intervention of health and social welfare professionals o Medical how do we fix people Definition of child abuse and consequences for victims e g 30 become abusers o Child Abuse serious physical harm trauma sexual abuse with injury or willful malnutrition of a child by an adult with intent to injure o Children who are abused are 30 more likely to become abusers i e cycle of abuse o Consequences Death Lower self esteem Lack of trust Depression Behavioral problems Sexual problems What type of abuse constitutes half of all reported cases of child abuse o Neglect Educational neglect children weren t attending school regularly and their parents were not making much effort to have them attend Physical neglect children were left unattended or poorly supervised by their Emotional neglect inadequate nurturance or exposure to bad behaviors and parents environments Understand the relationship between poverty class and child neglect and abuse patterns of abuse o Married women report the lowest levels of intimate partner violence o Women who are separated but not divorced report the highest levels o Substantially higher rates of domestic violence occur among low income couples o Abuse is common to occur in low income families one parent families or those where the husband does not have a full time job National survey says 4 of adult US women have been forced into sex by an acquaintance o Intimate Partner Rape the long accepted legal principle was that by marrying wives give their consent to sexual intercourse so their husbands may demand it by force if necessary Know the explanatory theories about domestic violence social learning frustration aggression and social exchange perspectives o Social Learning Perspective the theory that individuals learn behavior they will later exhibit by observing what others do and seeing the consequences of these actions Children who grow up in homes characterized by domestic violence are more likely as adults to act violently toward their spouses and children o Frustration Aggression Perspective the theory that aggressive behavior occurs when a person is blocked from achieving a goal Violence is seen as an emotional outburst of displaced anger usually by a man Helps us to understand why domestic violence is somewhat more common among the lower social classes whose members are morel likely to